A motorcycle struck and gravely injured a police officer who was chasing suspects on foot early Sunday.In surveillance video, shot by a nearby home security camera and obtained by Eyewitness News, you can see the police car, driven by Officer Carlos Olmedo, and his partner.

It shows them rounding the corner of 84th Street and 20th Avenue to check out a stolen car.

Moments later, the three suspects take off running up 20th Avenue, and that sets the motorcycle on a collision course with Olmedo.

"I heard a loud bang, like a gunshot or something," said Harvey Ball, a neighborhood resident.

Ball was there moments later, as frantic police tended to the gravely injured officer, who landed several dozen feet away.

"To me, he looked like he was out. There was no movement or any sound coming from him," Ball said.

"At this point, I think it's in the hands of God," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said solemnly.

At an early Sunday morning news conference, the mayor described Olmedo's condition as grave.

A few minutes before the accident, police say Olmedo and his partner has been working on an unrelated robbery call, when their electronic license plate reader alerted them to a stolen car, which was parked, empty, on 84th Street.

When officers returned to the car, police say three men were inside it and ran away, leading Olmedo right into the motorcycle's path.

"His injuries are significant head trauma and he's currently in critical condition," New York City Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, said.

All day Sunday, Olmedo's family and his family in blue kept a vigil at Lutheran Medical Center.

Olmedo, 31, is a devoted husband and the father of three children, ages 8, 6, and 1.

His friends call him Chuck. The city is calling him a hero.

"Because of Officer Olmedo's selfless service, thousands of people in Bensonhurst and across south Brooklyn never became victims," Bloomberg said.

For three years he has been serving the Bensonhurst neighborhood where Sunday, pieces of the motorcycle still littered the sidewalk.

Harvey Ball said he hopes for the best for Carlos Olmedo.

"For him to get hurt that way, it's a damn sin. It's a shame, really is," Ball said.

The motorcycle rider was also injured. He was listed in stable condition Sunday night. His name was not released.

The three suspects who were apprehended were identified as Mario Koruni, Sefer Mujo and Tiku Qoko. All three are 18 and live in Brooklyn. They were charged with assault and possession of stolen property.